What She Deserves
by Super Ninja Vampire Kitty
Summary: (Formally Give Me Everything) It's been years since Kamryn's been to her hometown of Pallet, where her journey first started. And it's been years since she's seen Ash and Gary, her childhood friends. The three are the best of friends, but soon Gary starts getting strange feelings around Kamryn. Does she feel it, too? Rated T for language, violence and perhaps partial nudity? . .
1. Welcome Back!

_**A/N: I thought about writing this because hey, Gary Oak is boss. 3 Heehee, tell me what you think! Read and Review! Please and thanks!**_

* * *

"Welcome to Pallet Town!" the sign displayed the words in gigantic, bold letters, though they were noticeably faded. It had been so long since I had passed the sign at the beginning of my Pokémon journey. This was my hometown; and I had been invited back by Professor Oak, as a celebration for us Pokémon trainers of Pallet.

_C'mon, only a little further now._

* * *

"Ah, Kamryn!" Professor Oak answered the door to his lab with extreme haste. "It has been too long! Come in, come in!" I couldn't help but laugh; Professor Oak was always such a rambunctious old fart.

"Ash and Gary had gotten here just a little before you and now we can start the party!" Oh, of course. Ash and Gary were always a step ahead of me. He walked off into another room as another figure passed him.

"'Bout time ya got here, loser," and there he was. The pompous Gary Oak.

"Took ya long enough!" He propped himself against the wall, striking his usual "I'm-better-than-you" pose. I scoffed.

"I'm never late, Gar-Bear, everyone else is just early." I said, flashing him a victorious smile when he cringed with a scowl. He had always hated that nickname; I'd given it to him when we met, so long ago, even before our leaving on our adventures. He smirked as he thought of his rebuttal.

"Well, Kami, not everyone can be as fast as Gary Oak," He winked, as if I were in on his raunchy joke.

"Um, gross," I shook my head, half disgusted, half embarrassed, then looked around, "Hey, where's Ashy-Boy?" The three of us used to be quite the team. We were inseparable as kids; but since we left on our Pokémon journeys, we didn't see much of either other anymore.

"Pi, Pikachu!" I'd recognize that cry anywhere!

"Oh hey Pikachu!" I held out my arms as he ran to me and gave me a Pika-hug.

"Pikachu, you traitor!" Ash Ketchum snickered as he followed his partner into the room. Here we were; the gang was here now. "

"It's been a long time since we were all together, hasn't it?" Gary uttered, wrapping his arms around Ash and me. "And Gramps is throwing a party just for us! Aren't we lucky?!" I pried his hand off and giggled. It _was _kind of cool how Grandpa Oak would throw us a party.

"Aw, c'mon, Kam, don't you like it when I touch you?" Gary smirked as I rolled my eyes and Ash punched his arm.

"Don't be such a sleaze, Gary! We're here for a good time!"

"I was only joking. Jeez, Ash, when did you care about being such a gentleman anyways?" I set Pikachu on Ash's shoulder with a kiss on the head and left the two to bicker, finding out the actual party was in Oak's ballroom. I'd been to Oak's lab many a time and never had I seen even a glimpse of a ballroom. I'm sure he had a lot of free time to build it or something without having to worry about his pesky little grandson and his friends demolishing everything, though. I recognized many people, some trainers from different towns and even my mother.

"Kamryn! My baby!" My mother had to screech and my face was flooded with motherly love. "Why don't you ever visit me? I've missed you so much! Come, tell me and everyone about your adventures!" It was true that I hadn't gone home to see my mother, but she did leave out that we had video called quite often, so its not like I completely ignored her. My mother had a tendency to be overdramatic.

As I began to talk about my journey through the regions, starting with my birth region first of course, a crowd began forming around me, totally engulfing me, very much intrigued with my stories. After a while, and in the middle of my tale of Hoenn, Gary and Ash came in, noticing the crowd around me. I stopped my speech to wave a hello to my best friends. I received in return a wink from Gary and a smile from Ash, and of course, Pikachu too.

"Oh look at that! Kamryn's almost as famous as me, Gary Oak!" Gary thundered jokingly over the crowd and was overrun by fan girls, and just fans in general. I was sure he enjoyed the attention of the girls but I kept catching him look over at me every now and again as he shook hands, gave out hugs and blew kisses to the girls. It was strange.

"Don't worry about Gary, Kami," Ash said, giving me a huge, long-awaited hug. "You know how he is around the girls." He laughed, petting Pikachu affectionately. Speaking of girls…

"How are you and Misty, Ashy-Boy?" I jeered, pinching his cheeks playfully. He turned a deep crimson as he turned away.

"N-none of your business! … Well… We're good…" It was such a good thing to hear. Misty had liked him for a long time, but the oblivious Ash had no idea, until recently. The redheaded water trainer had been with Ash for a while, that much I knew, and because Ash was so well known in Kanto, his and Misty's relationship began to leak out a little.

"No one really asks me about it, so I never know what to say." He muttered embarrassedly. I patted him on the back and grinned. Ash was never really the one to worry about the girls; that was all Gary.

"It's all good, Ash, I'm just glad you're happy." I smiled again. I did mean that; Ash was a good friend; almost my brother. And now, with us being eighteen and nineteen, he deserved a good girl.

As I looked around again, the group around Gary was dispersed and Gary himself was nowhere to be seen. I didn't think anything of it; I'm sure he just got bored of the girls always fawning over him. I decided to take the opportunity of no one crowding me to get some alone time. I hated being in big crowds, even if it was chockfull of people I knew. I said a short bye to Ash and Pikachu and slithered my way through the people and to a vacant room. Professor had really gone all out with this whole building onto the lab thing. You couldn't even tell that it was so big on the outside! So misleading!

I sighed. I wasn't much of a party person. I preferred to keep to myself and read a book or something at home. People made me tired. It was late after all. I caught a glimpse of my watch: 00:42 (That's midnight, if you didn't know; Military time was easier for me to understand).

"Yup, past my bedtime," I joked aloud, yawning and stretching out on the closest sofa in the room that I could see in the dark. I didn't have any idea where the light was and there was no need to turn it on if I was going to pass out. I didn't think Professor Oak would mind; we used to do it all the time as kids. I began to close my eyes as a voice shocked my eyes open.

"Whatcha doing hiding out in here, Kami?" Gary Oak again. Wait, how did he see me in the dark? He turned the light on, laughing as it caused me to jokingly hiss and cover my eyes. He was such an ass. Once my eyes adjusted, I noticed him strolling over to me, his trademark smirk on his face.

"Go away, Oak, I need my beauty sleep," I sneered as I teasingly waved a hand away at him, as if to say "Away now peasant." He only laughed and took a seat on the opposite side of the sofa to me.

"Don't be like that; I only wanna talk," _Talk? Gary doesn't just talk. That's so weird. _I shot him a cautious but eager glance. He smiled.

"It's been forever since I've seen you. You're my best friend, remember? Well, other than our idiot, Ashy-Boy. And you can't lie; I _know_ you've been dying to see me." My breath caught in my throat. I never told anyone but I had always admired the cheeky guy. He wasn't cocky, in my opinion, just confident. Don't get me wrong, I adored Ash, but Gary gave me a different feeling, somehow.

"Pfft, you wish, asshat." I stuck my tongue out at him, playing it off. He didn't seem convinced and nudged my shoulder.

"How have you been, Kami? I've seen Ash more often than not, and not a glimpse of you." That was true. I was pretty much on my own through my journeys. I had crossed paths with Ash only a few times, but it seemed I was always too far behind the brown-haired wonder. We preceded in small talk, about badges, regions, Pokémon. And honestly, it wasn't too bad. He didn't bore me like other trainers did. I had heard so many other stories; yet, I seemed fully and completely interested in his tales.

"All the way to Kalos, huh? That's pretty wicked, Kam! I was only there for a while. Oh, I'm a Pokémon Professor now. Jealous much?" Gary pulled out a card with a picture of him, looking all smug in a professor coat similar to his grandfather's. It fit him, to be honest. It was nice to see him follow his grandpa and become a professor; better than him becoming a Pokémon Master, that was my job!

As I continued my stories – he didn't seem to want to talk about himself, for some weird reason – I began to notice him scooting closer, ever so slightly. He was finally close enough for me to feel the heat coming off of him.

"Gary, why are you so damn close to me?" I cut my words off to push him away, but before my palm released his chest, he grabbed it.

"Kam, I've missed you," Before I could protest, he pulled me in for a hug. And not one of those little hugs, either. One that warmed my heart, with my head on his chest. His body began to shake, and I noticed he was crying. For real crying.

"Hey hey, what's the matter?" I wiped his tears with a free thumb and looked at him. Gary Oak looked pitiful. I'd never seen him cry. "Don't cry, ya little shit. You're Gary Motherfucking Oak. You don't cry." That made him smile.

We sat like that for a long while, him just smiling at me and me wiping his tears. It was just so strange; we don't see each other in forever and he starts crying on me. Gary Oak, of all the people in the world. He looked so helpless, even with the sincere smile on his face.

He'd told me and Ash when we were little that his parents were gone because of the war, and other than his sister Daisy and Grandpa Oak, he was alone. That's the day we all promised to be best friends, even after we left on our journeys. We needed to be together. But our trips pushed us away from each other.

After a couple minutes of the awkward staring, he began to take notice of what he was doing and dragged himself away from me, reluctantly. He wiped his eyes and nose with a sleeve and grimaced.

"Um, yeah, I'm gonna go now…" He got up in a rush and left the room without looking back at me. He was acting so weird, not like himself. I could only think that it was the party tiring him out, as he was his usual self before I had left him and Ash alone. Perhaps he had already let the waterworks run with Ash earlier, if he really missed us? I left it at that and soon passed out from all the abnormality.

* * *

The trademark Dodrio woke me up with a start the next morning. I rubbed my eyes sleepily then blinked away my drowsiness, later noticing I was in my old room at my house. I guessed the Professor or one of the boys brought me over, though deciding after a bit it wasn't of huge importance. I slid to the edge of the bed and reached for my suitcase and backpack I carried with me on my adventures. The suitcase, of course, had clothes and the backpack housed my pokéballs. I grabbed an outfit out of my suitcase and walked to the bathroom to shower.

It was such a relief to shower; you didn't get to often on the road, as disgusting as that sounds. I let the water run down, just standing there. I couldn't get my mind off what happened last night with Gary. I mean, it was so unlike Gary to show any emotion like that, other than being angry or smug, of course. I shrugged to myself; it had to have been a one-time thing, and I cleaned up fast, wanting to find my best friends as soon as possible.

As I was putting my underwear on, I heard the front door slam downstairs, followed by footsteps and voices. _Sounds like they're already here! _I thought excited, pulling on short shorts, and just then, I saw Ash and Gary burst through my bedroom door (I don't close my bathroom door, because, well it's my bathroom). I shrieked in embarrassment, folding my arms across my almost bare chest.

"Heya, Kami!" Ash exclaimed, completely oblivious to my lack of a shirt. Gary, on the other hand, snickered, his eyes obviously on my folded arms.

"Just so excited to see us, you couldn't keep your clothes on, eh, _Kamryn_?" He jeered, putting emphasis on my first name. I scowled at him through a deeply flushed face and slammed the bathroom door shut.

"Not funny, Oak!" I yelled, pulling a loose fitting tank top over my head. I heard him chuckle and Ash ask why I slammed the door. I threw the door open again, grabbed my backpack and smiled at the innocent boy. So naïve. "Because Gary Oak is a fucking pervert!" I stuck my tongue out at him and before Gary could jump at me, breezed past the two of them downstairs to see my mother at the dining table. I knew she'd heard the conversation and only laughed.

"I'm gonna go out with them, okay Mom?" I said, hugging her. She nodded.

"Just come back for dinner. We have catching up to do!" I sighed, smiling through my irritation. She always wanted me to have dinner with her, but I couldn't lie, she always made good food! Before I could call to the guys to come on, they were bounding down the stairs, arms linked and singing who knows what.

"You guys are nuts!" I giggled, linking arms on the other side of Ash and waving to my mother as we skipped out the door. "So what are we gonna do today, guys?" I smiled as Pikachu jumped on my shoulders from Ash's and Gary stopped us before we got to Route 1. He took his arm away and walked ahead of us a little bit.

"What's he doing?" Ash whispered to me as he took back his partner and I shrugged in reply. After a few meters, Gary turned around.

"You guys remember, don't ya?" Gary called back to us, and we ran back to his side. "This is where we started our journey. Well, me and Kami did, then Ash's lazy ass finally got up!"

"Hey!" Ash whined, and I couldn't help but laugh. Gary gave him a friendly punch in the arm.

"Well, you shouldn't have slept in, you idiot!" Gary replied, ruffling the other boy's hair.

"C'mon guys!" I exclaimed, coming between the two of them with a hug, "I actually wanna go do something today, not listen to you two bitch!" Gary's rebuttal was a pat on my head.

"Quiet now, child. The adults are talking." He grinned like a mad man when I swung a fist at him, only for him to catch it in his hand, then the other one.

"Oooooh, he got you Kam!" Ash sang, Pikachu giggling. I glared at Gary and he only beamed, squeezing tighter on my hands. He was such a smug bastard sometimes!

"Gary, let goooooo…"I moaned, showing off my pouty face. Him and Ash were suckers for my pouty face. He held on for a couple minutes before letting go with an eye roll.

"Fine then, _princess_, let's go." He laughed, wrapping arms with Ash on the left and me on the right. "To Viridian City!"

* * *

[Gary's POV]

I had to admit; I loved being able to hang out with my best friends again. We used to be so close that the whole town of Pallet called us the Three Musketeers. Cliché, I know, but it fit us. And still did.

I lead the way to Viridian City, as I knew the city was housing the traveling Pokémon carnival. We couldn't just sit around like dumbasses and talk like girls! And I knew my friends well enough to know that they would love to go. Especially Kam. She had always loved the games, even if she wasn't too good at them. She released our arms when we were within eye's range of the carnival.

"Oh fuck yes!" She exclaimed, jumping up and down, and with a huge grin on her face, grabbed Ash and pointed. "Look look, Ash! The carnival!" The raven-haired boy's eyes looked equally excited and all I could do was sigh. They were such little kids. _They may have grown in size and age, but not in heart…_

"C'mon Pikachu! We're gonna go win that stuffed Lugia!" Ash took off without us; having already spotted a game booth that interested him and leaving me alone with Kam.

"So whatcha wanna do?" I smirked, slithering close to the starry-eyed girl. "Do you need me to win you a pokédoll because you can't do it yourself?" I nudged her shoulder and she glared at me, rolling her brown eyes.

"I'll have you know, _Gary_, that I can win a stuffed plush by _myself._" She stuck her tongue out playfully then grabbed my hand and led me to a game booth. She wasn't always so feisty. She had been hella shy when we met, but me and Ash changed that. I liked that about her; she wasn't afraid to be herself anymore.

"I'm gonna win that!" she exclaimed, pointed to a huge stuffed Mew, her finger shaking eagerly.

"Heh, go ahead and try. I'll be here when you can't." I loved teasing her. With Ash, I could tease him and he'd fight back, but with her, she'd just whine and/or hit me. It was hilarious. After scowling at me, Kam turned her attention to the game. It was pretty simple; you just had to throw the rings on the bottles. Easy enough… for anyone other than Kamryn. I watched her with curious eyes as she tossed each ring, clearly missing her target, and after a quiet, grumbled curse, she picked up another only to have the same result. The guy running the game was trying to hide a smile, but it was hard. She was so confident yet nothing went right for her. And she was getting so pissed. It was annoying to see. Before she tossed her ninth ring, I grabbed her wrist and took it. I had to stop this embarrassing scene.

"Let me do it, Kami, you suck," I sneered, and effortlessly flung it in the direction of the bottles without looking, smirking when I heard the "clink" sound of it connecting to a bottle. _Success._ Kamryn gasped, her jaw dropped open.

"Now how the hell did you do that?!" she barked, putting her hands on her hips. She was so sassy when she was irritated. "Is this damn thing rigged or something?" The guy behind the counter made eye contact with me and we shared a laugh. She was so naïve. I patted her head with an amused sigh.

"No, Kami, you just suck ass," I lifted an arm up to block her incoming punch and poked her side in retaliation. If you ever wanted her to squeak like a mouse and stop everything, that's what you needed to do. She frowned, a defeated look in her eyes, but a zesty smirk lined her lips.

"Better than sucking dick like you do!" she laughed as my face darkened to red and I scowled.

"You don't say things like that in public, you little shit," I grumbled, putting more money down to get more rings. Before she could ask what I was doing, I tossed the ten of them, all wrapping around a bottle. I stunned not only her, but also the booth guy. I simpered madly as I grabbed the Mew plushie Kamryn was pointing to earlier and gave it to her. The smile on her face couldn't have gotten any bigger.

"Thank you, Gar-Bear!" She yelled, jumping at me with an affectionate hug. I liked her hugs; they were so warm. Or maybe that was just my face from her calling me that stupid fucking nickname in public. I lowered my head in embarrassment – she had said it so loud that passing people had heard it and laughed – and grabbed her hand and dragged her off to find Ash.

"Awww, are you embarrassed, Gary-Poo?" She giggled like a schoolgirl when she said that. _Gary-Poo? What the fuck?_ I growled to keep myself from going off at her. I caught sight of Ash and Pikachu at a funnel cake vender and threw her into them.

"Do something with this pest," I mumbled to him, ignoring Kamryn's taunting smiles and laughing.

"Aw, Gary, did she call you Gar-" I slammed a hand over Ash's mouth to keep the name from being heard once again. I hated it. HATED it. And they both knew it. Ash licked my hand to get it off and I stuck my tongue out in disgust as I wiped it on him.

"Gary, don't be a dick. We're not hurting you," Kam tutted through a mouthful of funnel cake. I rolled my eyes. I couldn't ever stay mad at her, or even Ash. She was just such a kid; she grinned so big taking another bite out of her funnel cake, squeezing her new Mew plush in her other arm. And Ash, well, he was pretty much the same way, just with a Pikachu and no plush.

"I'm not a dick, but I have one," I winked at her, hoping she would continue with my joke. I enjoyed flirting with her just so she would yell "ew" or roll her eyes. But I guess secretly I wanted her to flirt back. I mean, not that I liked her like that. She was just my best chick friend; I wanted to be able to joke with her.

"I wouldn't be so sure. You seem pretty girly to me," she sassed, high fiving Ash for her comeback. It wasn't even that good.

"Are you assholes done?" I sighed. It was just that I was a guy, and being a guy, I didn't want silly little pet names that girls give to everything. It was embarrassing. They nodded simultaneously and we walked off to find another place of interest at the carnival.

* * *

"That was so much fun, guys!" Kamryn bellowed cheerfully, her arms filled with cute plushies. Ash had won a new backpack and a free night stay pass in Celadon City Hotel for four people. And me? Other than Kam's Mew, I didn't get much. I rode the rides. Rides are my shit. I felt something tug at my pant leg and looked down to see Kam's Skitty, Skittles. She had released her from her pokéball a while ago and she had followed behind, stopping every now and again to play with her tail.

"Pi, Pikachu!" Pikachu seemed to want Skittles to keep up, as if she was going to get lost. I may be a hardass, but I know when to say "aww" to cute Pokémon.

"Yeah, it was great! We HAVE to go to Celadon City soon with this!" Ash waved his ticket in the air. He was always getting the good stuff. I nodded. Celadon City was a favorite city of mine in Kanto. I loved the Game Corner. That's where all the hot chicks would congregate, and at Erika's gym too! As I thought of that wonderful sight, someone punched my arm.

"Quit drooling, Oak, it doesn't suit you," Kam sneered, flashing a superior smile then leaning down to carry Skittles with her plushies. She looked just like the dolls, other than her constant moving.

"Well, ill see you guys tomorrow then, okay?" Ash gave us a salute and with a farewell from Pikachu, they retreated into his house. It was pretty late, and I didn't want Kam to walk home by herself, so I offered her my company.

"Of course! I mean, if you're _scared_, you can walk with me. Or maybe I should walk _you_ home." She was much more snarky when she was tired. That's why you never wanted to have a sleepover and invite her.

"Okay, Princess, you're definitely getting to bed," I half laughed as I grabbed her hand and led her to her house. She didn't protest, she didn't say anything, at least until we got to her house. She was usually chattier when she was tired, too. Maybe she was just too tired for anything. "Well, goodnight, Kami. I'll see you tomorrow." I said, holding in a yawn. But as I turned to leave, I felt arms around my waist and a figure on my back.

"Thank you, Gary. You were really sweet today," Kam sounded so exhausted. Her voice was tiny and so sweet sounding. It was so adorable, like a little Skitty. I couldn't help but smile, though I didn't let her see it.

"Well, I ain't sweet, but you're welcome. See you tomorrow." I turned around and gave her a real hug. I tried to break it, but she held her grip. I looked down at her, and the little shit had fallen asleep hugging me. How the hell do you even do that?! I blinked, not processing how it was possible. Skittles mewed at me from the ground and started mewing at the door. Soon, Kamryn's mom came out, and I swear I saw a smile cross her lips quickly.

"Oh hello Gary. Kam- oh. She's fallen asleep standing again. Here, let me get her." She pulled the girl off of me and held her in her arms, walking into the house with ease. I grabbed her dolls and Skittles – who really seemed to like me – and followed her to Kam's room. Her mom had already laid her down and tucked her in. She looked so small, so innocent in her minute bed. I tossed her dolls next to her bed and set Skittles next to Kam. The Skitty curled up in a ball and passed out quick. They were quite the sight. You could tell they were partners.

"Thank you very much for bringing her home, Gary," her mom nodded to me and left the room. That left me alone in a teenage girl's room, while she was sleeping – if it were any other girl, this would have been my dream, but this was my best friend. As I turned to leave, I got this strange feeling in my stomach and turned back to the sleeping girl. And I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I walked over to her and kissed her, right on the lips. It didn't last very long, but I had to pry myself away when I realized what I did. _I kissed her… what the hell?_ I blinked a couple times, trying to process it. My face flushed. Before I could do any other strange thing, I hightailed it out of there. What the hell possessed me to kiss my best friend?

"Just… what the fuck, Oak?" I said to myself. I had just gotten back to my room and was kicking myself. "You can't just go around kissing your best friends. That's just weird!" I took deep breaths to calm myself down. It had to be my exhaustion, just like the night before when I broke down in front of her. It was so weird. I didn't even cry in front of my sister or Gramps! What was making me become so… _girly_ in front of my best chick friend? I rolled into bed, trying to go to sleep and forget about what happened. Hopefully, Kam couldn't remember and I wouldn't ever have to explain myself. Because I had no explanation. All I knew is that whenever I was around her, my stomach would be in knots and I desperately wanted her attention on me. But that was only because I hadn't seen her in forever… right?


	2. Tricky Feelings

[Kamryn's POV]

"Kam, come down for breakfast!" My mother's voice woke me up and to not risk getting chewed out by her from not listening, I obeyed, grabbing a sleeping Skittles.

"What's up, ma?" I yawned, rubbing my eye with my hand while clutching Skittles in my other arm. She looked kind of sad, forgotten maybe. Then it hit me: she said to be home by dinner and I wasn't. I sat at the table next to her. "Mom, I'm sorry. We were having so much fun that we forgot to check the time. Truly, I'm sorry." Letting Skittles go, I leaned over to give her a hug. I had never blown her off before, and seeing her so dejected made me feel like a dick.

"I understand, sweetie, don't worry," she hugged me back, smiling at me as she broke the hug. I could tell it was forced. I grimaced.

"Let me make you breakfast, okay?" I offered hesitantly. I had no idea what to make; I always had canned food on the road. I got in the fridge and pulled out eggs and bacon. That would have to do. Skittles decided to join me by jumping on the counter and trying to steal the bacon.

"Skittles seems more eager to eat than myself," Mom chuckled softly, putting the pink kitten down on the floor. "Don't burn the bacon, honey." She scooted me out of the way and took over preparing the food. She always did that, but I had learned a lot of what I knew by watching her do things. I was terribly observant. She flipped the food with ease. She used to tell stories of her being a chef on the S.S Anne before I was born. It's how she met my dad. But Dad had died only a couple days before I was born…

"Thanks, mom," I said with a mouthful, sliding a bit of my food to Skittles. She was a spoiled little shit. And she stayed out of her pokéball more often than not.

"Anytime, baby. I've missed making you food. It's been so long since you left for your journey…" I saw the slight hint of tears swell up in her eyes, but she blinked them away. "Anyways, finish up. Ash's mom called earlier saying he was waiting for you." I frowned at her, wondering why he would be waiting for ME, instead of vice versa, then I remembered: the Celadon City Hotel Pass!

"I totally forgot!" I shoved the breakfast into my mouth and tossed the dishes in the sink. "Thanks mom!" I ran upstairs and after a quick shower, threw on my signature outfit: a short red parka with a green undershirt, damaged short shorts, red knee high socks and black high tops. I snatched my string backpack with my pokéballs and other things and flew down the stairs.

"Call me when you get to Celadon, Kam!" Mom yelled after me as Skittles and I waved goodbye and sprinted out the door. Ash's house was about a quarter of a mile from mine and it didn't take me long to get there. I knocked politely but charged in soon after. Ash and his mom sat on the sofa in their living room, watching TV with Pikachu.

"Oh, good morning, Kamryn. You got here pretty early," Ash's mom said, looking at the clock above the TV. 9:38am. Damn, it WAS early.

"As soon as Gary gets here, we'll leave, okay?" Ash spoke, not able to contain the excitement. He had to have been excited for the same reason as me: the Game Corner. Of course, now it wasn't being run by Team Rocket like it had been all those years ago, and it was actually enjoyable to go to. I scooped up Skittles and sat down on the floor by their sofa, waiting on Gary. He wasn't ever one to be late, considering he had gotten to the party first, and he and Ash were the first ones to my house, rather than it being me. It started to worry me.

"Myrah," Skittles sensed my worry and licked my cheek. I couldn't help but squeal.

"Skittles, you are just sooooooooo adorable!" I squeezed her affectionately, listening to her purr.

"That's a funny way to say, "Gary", Kam," I turned my head to the familiar voice and there stood Gary Oak in the Ketchum doorway. Ash's mom giggled at the Oak boy's comment and began to push Ash and me towards the door to Gary before anyone could even say hi.

"Take care, you kids! Have fun! And don't forget to change your underwear, Ash!" She gave her a tight motherly hug at the sight of his dark tomato-colored face.

"Moooooooooom!" he whined, hugging her back, then pulling away after hearing the snickers of Gary and me. "Let's go guys," he grumbled, snuggling his Pikachu close to him. He was the only one not laughing. We walked out and back again to Route 1. Celadon City was too far away for a day's walk, so one of us had to call upon a flying type Pokémon. But neither one of the boys had one. I did.

"Kronos, come help!" I tossed out a pokéball, and from it emerged my Charizard. I had picked Charmander from the Kanto region as my starter, and I had trained him all the way up to a Charizard. He was quite the sight. The boys hadn't seen him since he was a baby Charmander. "We need to get to Celadon City. Wanna do that for me?" I petted his neck lightly. I tried not to ask much flying of him, as he hated having to carry people, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Damn, Kami, you raised a beast!" Gary bellowed and I flushed slightly from the compliment. Ash didn't seem impressed, per se, but he was sure excited.

"Let's go guys!" He exclaimed, jumping up on Kronos' back. The large Pokémon growled in irritation but the raven-haired boy didn't seem to mind, and as Ash and Pikachu got comfortable, Kronos settled down.

"Here Skittles, I know you don't like heights," I returned her to her pokéball and shot Gary a glance. He was staring at my Charizard, almost dumbfounded. "Does my Kronos _scare _you, Oak?" I teased, climbing up on my Pokémon's back. He snapped out of his trance and followed me.

"No, I'm not. I'm just surprised this creature was trained by _you_, of all people." But before I could rebuttal, Ash shouted a command to Kronos: "Take off, Kronos!" and to my surprise, my Pokémon obeyed. I let out a startled squeak as I wrapped my arms around Ash's waist to keep from falling off and Gary followed suite with my waist. His arms seemed to fit there, I thought. _The motherfucker needs to hug me more, damnit. That's what friends are for!_

"Wahhhhoooooo!" Ash bellowed, for what seemed like the entire ride there. He was such a cutie. He always enjoyed doing anything that involved Pokémon. I heard Gary chuckle behind me.

"You'd think he'd never ridden a Pokémon before with that obnoxious yelling."

"And you'd think _you'd_ never ridden a Pokémon by the way you're _shaking_!" I hissed jokingly. He wasn't really, but I always loved to annoy him; I knew he'd never do anything to hurt me, only rebuttal with verbal violence or pervertedness. But to my surprise, instead of replying, he pulled me closer to him, to where I felt his front side on my back. It made me blush, big time. Other than hugs, I hadn't ever gotten that close to him. I felt his warm breath on my ear as he spoke into it.

"Watch your back, sweetheart. You know how I feel about feisty girls. Don't make me regret my actions," He uttered so darkly, as if his words were supposed to be taken seriously. I knew he was joking, especially if he was talking like that; he had to have been. I turned my head around to face him and grinned.

"I'd like to see you try something, _Oak_," I sneered, nodding triumphantly as I turned back around. He was silent the rest of the way, no response to my statement, barely any movement. All that could be heard was Ash's screams of delight and Kronos' breathing. And like that it continued until Kronos stopped in front of the Celadon City Pokémon Center.

As we jumped down, I stroked Kronos' wing. He was so tired from having to carry three people. He deserved a rest.

"Return, baby, you did such a good job." I gave him a kiss on the nose and returned him to his pokéball.

"Where's _my _kiss, Kam?" Gary whispered to me, "I mean, I _did_ keep you from falling off your own Charizard." Um, what? I gawked at Gary Oak, astonished and trying to process what he said. We were never in any threat of falling off… As I realized he was only showing off, like usual, I smiled evilly and grabbed Ash quickly, throwing him into Gary.

"_Here's_ your kiss, Gary!" I hollered, not being able to contain my laughter. I'd thrown Ash well enough that they had touched noses! It may not have been a kiss, but it could have been mistaken for one and THAT was pretty damn funny! But instead of them getting all embarrassed, they embraced each other lovingly and smiled.

"Gary, Gary, I love you!" Ash joked, pretending to cry.

"Ash, I've always loved you!" Gary played along, winking at me when I glared at them for not doing what I expected them to. They were just too good of friends. Nothing I could do would faze them, the dicks.

"Okay, okay _lovebirds, _let's get to the hotel to check out our room."

* * *

[Gary's POV]

So, the hotel was a bit of a rip-off… we were only allowed one room! Which meant, we all had to share a room! Ash and me had to share a room, with a girl. I mean, don't get me wrong, Kamryn was our best friend, so nothing would happen, but that didn't mean it wouldn't be awkward!

"I call the bed!" Kam sang, flopping down on it before either of us could. I rolled my eyes. There was no sense in arguing. She would just pull her pouty face and the rest would be history. She looked too damn cute when she did it, though I'd never admit to it to her face; that's not really my style.

"I want this sofa then!" Ash followed after, crowding the couch as if some kind of furniture predators were going to take it. And because there was no other thing to sleep on, that meant I had the floor. Not something I looked forward to.

It had taken nearly all day to get here, and the whole ride over was just amazing. I couldn't speak. Kami had _flirted_ with me, knowing it or not, and for some reason, it just paralyzed me. I knew she couldn't see but I had been smiling like a mad fool for the entire trip. She'd done it before, jokingly, in the past, but this time felt different. She felt more mature. And her body that close to mine… just thinking of it made me blush, and I tried to think of something different to avoid being questioned about my red face. It was just strange; Kamryn didn't feel like my best friend anymore. I couldn't explain it; my feelings were playing tricks on me. And I didn't like it. I just couldn't think of us being any more than friends. That's how I both wanted it to stay.

When we settled down in the room, Kam got on her phone and called her mom. Most likely because she told her to. Her mom was always really protective of her daughter. Must have been nice… Ash and me sat in front of the lone TV, being indecisive on what channel we wanted to watch.

"Just no soap operas, okay? I hate that stupid shit." I grumbled. My sister Daisy always watched that bullshit. I saw no reason for it, and couldn't believe some went on for years. They were all the same: something to do with doctors and lovers then babies, drama and death. And she'd get so upset over it; over a TV show! Like, she'd cry and shout things at the TV like the characters would listen! Ugh, it was nauseating.

"Jeez, Gary, why are you so grumpy?" Ash replied, turning the channel to a cartoon. I shook my head. I couldn't explain it to him; I couldn't even explain it to myself! I guess I was just getting irritated about what happened earlier, but I couldn't tell Ash that. Luckily, he didn't pry, only shrugged and contently watched the cartoon with Pikachu. Seeing Ash all snuggly with his Pokémon made me want to cuddle with my own so I took out Umbreon's pokéball and released him.

"C'mere boy," I held my arms out and he jumped in them. I may have been a hardass, but my Pokémon would always have a spot in my heart. They were my Pokémon equivalent to Ash and Kam, and speaking of her… She had gotten off the phone with her mom and was staring out the window at the city, which was lit up with the city lights. It looked like millions of stars so close, sparkling bright. But Kam, she seemed distracted, distant. I decided to see if something was wrong. I motioned for Umbreon to follow.

"Hey Kam, you alright?" I asked warmly, sitting down next to her. She didn't move. Maybe she didn't hear me. I reached a hand out and put it on her shoulder, and she snapped out of her trance, with a frightened gasp. She swung around and grasped my arm in defense, but let go once she noticed it was me. Something was wrong.

"O-oh, hi Gary," she exhaled, flashing a faint smile for me. But I knew that it was put-on. And she knew I wasn't that stupid.

"What's wrong, Kami?" I heard my voice oozed concern and it sickened me. I wouldn't have been so worried if it were anyone else. It was just because she was my best friend. I hated seeing her upset. She never needed to be upset, so me and Ash would usually cheer her up before she could feel worse. In this case, I was glad it was me, though I couldn't explain why.

"Oh, it's just… Mom's all lonely and was saying she wishes I was back home again… she's so clingy with me. I'm not used to it." She sighed when she finished talking, but waved a hand in the air. "But it's alright. I'll see her again after a couple days." _Oh, yeah, that's right_. The pass offered a two-night, three-day stay at the hotel. And because Celadon City was such a big and lively city, we figured we could find something to do for the next two days.

"Okay, if you say so," I shrugged and began to get up, but she grabbed my arm to stop me, and pulled me close to her to whisper something.

"Why did you do what you did on Kronos today? Why did you grab me and say that?" she asked quietly and I felt my face get hot and my body got chills. I hoped she wouldn't bring it up, but of course I have the worst luck with that. I didn't know how to reply; and luckily, I didn't have to.

"Do you guys know if they have room service?" Ash inquired, jumping between the two of us, fortunately for me. Kam's eyes lit up at the thought of food. I swear she was a bottomless pit.

"Yes, yes they do! Call down, Ash! I want some pizza!" Ash nodded to her and grabbed the phone, typing in random numbers until he finally found the room service number. They were hopeless. I took that opportunity to slide away from Kam with Umbreon and back to the sofa. The cartoon Ash was watching earlier still played. It was a Pokémon cartoon, but I didn't know the name. I never watched cartoons at my age. Those were for little kids, or Ash and Kam.

"What kinda pizza do you want, Gar?" Ash asked, turning my focus from the TV to him.

"Pepperoni," My favorite. Ash nodded and proceeded to tell the person on the other line what other ones we wanted. He wanted straight cheese and Kam wanted all meat and… mushrooms. Yuck.

"But mushrooms are soooooo good, Ash!" She whined when Ash made a face. I was on Ash's side for this. I stroked Umbreon's head affectionately, and he smiled up at me. He totally agreed; mushrooms suck. That's why we were best friends.

"Oh hey, Gary, look at this!" Kam jumped off the bed and pulled out two pokéballs, releasing the Pokémon inside. Out popped an Espeon and Sylveon. "This is Solara and Zephora!" she said proudly, pointing to the Pokémon respectively. She must have stayed a while in Kalos to get a Sylveon.

"Woah! They're awesome!" Ash exclaimed. Knowing him, he probably hadn't even gone to Kalos yet on his journey. He was so slow. I looked at his partner; Pikachu was completely infatuated with Zephora.

"Pika, pikachuuuuuu," the Pokémon smiled at the pink Eeveelution and Zephora seemed to laugh, along with Kamryn.

"You silly Pikachu," she tutted and gave her Pokémon a kiss on the head before returning them to their pokéballs. She always had such _girly_ Pokémon, aside from Kronos, of course. And she always seemed to think they could beat me or Ash easily. The thought of it made me smirk and I decided I would challenge her sometime in the future to see if they could.

There was a knock on the door only seconds after Kam returned her Pokémon and Ash answered it, taking the pizzas and paying the deliverer. That pizza smelled fucking good!

"Gimme gimme gimme!" Kamryn squealed, taking a box with half cheese and half meat and mushrooms. She took two pieces and handed the box back to Ash, who in return gave me my box. _Hell yes, a whole box to myself! _"You'd better be thinking of sharing some of that pepperoni pizza, Gar-Bear!" Before I could protest, the girl snatched a piece for herself and one for Ash, who had gotten a piece of his pizza jacked from Pikachu. I growled through a mouthful of pizza.

"Thiff iff mai flooood!" I forced out, pulling my box away so she couldn't take anymore and she laughed. She just couldn't keep her hands off any food; if she was around food, she was stuffing her face.

There was much silence as we scarfed down the food, and the only sound to break the silence was various belches from the three of us. And since it was so late, after midnight to be exact, we headed off to bed once the food had been devoured. I settled on the floor between Ash's sofa and Kam's bed, with Umbreon snuggled close to my chest. I pulled the blanket I had taken from the bed up around me and the creature, smiling adoringly, though it faded after some thought. I loved my Pokémon, but I couldn't help but feel like another being should have been in his place...


	3. Confession?

[Gary's POV]

I woke up before the other two, to my surprise. I may not have been late anywhere, but I sure as hell didn't wake up earlier than nine. And my watch read 7:14am. I groaned, gently sliding away from Umbreon so I wouldn't wake him. He looked so peaceful, a slight smirk on his face. No doubt dreaming of a victory over Ash that we had gotten years ago. I chuckled to myself and got up to go take a piss. And boy, did I have to go! I sighed as I relieved myself and yes, the toilet seat was up! Knowing there was some time before my friends woke up, I decided to shower. I hadn't for a day or so and I was already beginning to stink. Undressing hastily, I hopped in the shower and stood under the water for a while, even though I went in to bathe. I just couldn't stop thinking about yesterday.

"Why HAD I said that?" I asked myself aloud, facepalming. Man was I being an idiot! Weeks ago, I was fawning all over the hot girls in Kalos while I went there to study from Professor Sycamore. I hadn't seen Kamryn in years and the minute I see her, I'm falling all over myself and flirting like no other, with my _best friend_! But this was different… With other girls, I wasn't looking for commitment, just a one-time hookup or something. I guess you could say one-night stands. I liked the girls for their bodies, really. But with Kam, I kept having these feelings of longing when she wasn't next to me. I wanted to see her smile so I made jokes, hoping she would play along with me. I wanted to hug her and not let go…

I turned the water down to cool and sighed, letting the water run down my body. I hadn't felt like that my entire life of being around girls. I mean, of course the hot ones aroused me, but that was just thinking with my dick. I couldn't think like that with Kamryn; I just couldn't. I mean, for one, you don't just think of a person you've known since you were little like that; it's weird!

"What's wrong with you, Oak?" I said, shaking my head. I just couldn't comprehend it. Daisy was always saying that this would happen to me. She didn't like how I was around other girls, and she would say that when I found "the one", she would either regret me or I'd never get the chance to tell her how I felt. And maybe she was right.

Was it love? I may not have been in a committed relationship before, but I knew what love was. It had to have been. If it wasn't, wouldn't I have just thought of her like I did Ash? As my best friend? I pushed the thoughts from my head long enough to clean myself and get out. I wrapped a towel around my waist and looked at my reflection. I came up with a plan. I knew how I felt, and I had to tell her. All of these confusing feelings needed to be addressed. I thought that maybe saying it out loud to her face would sound crazy and I would be able to dismiss it and just say it was because I missed my best friend… Only, how would I do it?

_A Pokémon battle. _I was wanting to battle her anyways!If I won, I would tell her my feelings, why I've been so strange lately. If no, well, I'd worry about that if it happened, but losing wouldn't make me change my mind. I'd find some other way to do it! I smirked at myself. I came up with the best plans! Of course, I, Gary Oak, would win! It was a win-win for me; clock in another battle win and confess my feelings about the girl I cared the most about. _Woah, THAT a weird thing to say_. I walked out of the bathroom and grabbed an outfit from my bag: black denim jacket, beige cargo pants and black tennis shoes. It worked; needed to look like a badass if I was going to act like a wuss. I got dressed and woke Umbreon. The Pokémon seemed to understand my plan as I told him, his eyes lighting up. Smirking, I gave him a pat on the head and wrote out a little note to Kamryn.

With quiet toes, I snuck out of the hotel room and made my way through Celadon to the rendezvous point. I was determined to win, and I was going to. I HAD to. It excited me to finally be going after a girl rather than all of the girls chasing after me – who could blame them? But I was the most excited because I had finally found a girl _worth_ chasing, rather than just some random hot chick. She'd been there the whole time and she was going to be mine. Though I would have to play at it a bit different than I would with the other girls. She wasn't going to fall for my cheap player tricks. She knew me better than those girls. This was going to be my hardest challenge yet.

* * *

[Kamryn's POV]

"Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam! Get uppppppppppppp!" I groaned. Why couldn't people just let me sleep in lately? I droopily opened my eyes to a wide awake Ash Ketchum leaning over me. I smiled and pushed him away. I loved the kid, but he wasn't the first thing I wanted to see in the morning.

"What is it, you turd? I was having a really kickass dream…" I yawned and he waved a piece of paper in my face. I snatched it and read it:

"Kam: when you wake up, meet me by the department store. I have a little somethin'-somethin' to ask you. Oh, and bring your Pokémon, loser. Don't keep me waiting. – Gary"

Oh that little ass! He knew my curiosity would get the better of me and I would have to go see what he wanted. I ran a hand through my hair and yawned once more, trying not to look as excited as I was for the random surprise.

"C'mon, we gotta go!" Ash urged, and pushed me out of bed. I landed on the ground with an "oof".

"Damnit, Ash! I'll go when I'm ready!" I laughed and pushed him off the other side of the bed, dashing to the bathroom before he could react. I showered fast and put on my newest outfit: a black vest, a white tank, torn up jean shorts, black and pink combat boots and a white and pink cap to top it off. I had to look cute if I was going out into one of the busiest cities in Kanto! I walked out of the bathroom to see a dressed Ash, pacing at the door. He hadn't a reason to be so excited but he was. He was such a silly kid. I grabbed my bag and he noticed my presence, jumping up and down.

"Let's go, let's go!" He exclaimed, throwing the hotel door open and running down the hallway with Pikachu. I giggled and wondered how Misty put up with the kid. He was always so hyperactive and naïve at the same time, but it was a good combination. I caught up with him in the hotel lobby and we made our way to the Celadon Department Store.

The city seemed to have grown considerably since I had last came on my first adventure through Kanto. Where Erika's gym used to be was taken over by a park for Pokémon and kids alike. I wasn't a big fan of the smaller people, but I had to admit, they were cute running around with baby Pokémon. I pointed to them so Ash would look and he smiled, petting Pikachu's cheek. He and Pikachu had been through a lot, and I'm sure it reminded him of when they first started their adventure. We continued past the park and I had to reluctantly push myself past the Game Corner. It was a reason why I had been in Celadon City longer than I should have on my first journey; I liked slot machines… I made a mental note to come back and play there once we found out what Gary wanted.

"I wonder what he wants, Kam," Ash thought aloud and I shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Ashy-Boy," he playfully punched my arm at the sound of his little nickname. I let out a pitiful "ow", not believable at all, and he knew it. I smirked and ran ahead of him, now really impatient to see what the spikey haired boy wanted. As we got closer to the Department Store, I began to notice a figure like Gary leaning on the building, and sure enough, when I got into eye's range, it was, with his faithful Umbreon at his side. He looked so… well mature, for some reason. His outfit brought out his, for lack of a better word, _toughness. _I couldn't lie; it did make my best friend look striking, and he had to of known it by the way he was smirking, though it was his signature sneer. He knew how to dress to impress, but why so snazzy? I was well intrigued by his slight change in look and I shot him a curious glance when we made it to him.

"What is it, Kami? Am I just too attractive for you?" Gary Oak snickered, posing in a way that would have put a runway model to shame. I looked at him then Ash and couldn't help it; I broke out laughing, Ash following suite. Gary coughed shyly from our responses. "I'm just kidding, but Kam," His voice stopped our laughter and he looked serious, pausing for a second before he proceeded, "Pull out three Pokémon; we're going to battle." _What? Battle? _I ignored his demand and folded my arms, a cocky smirk on my face. I knew Gary was an expert batter, but so was I and I thought he'd be more used to having people ask him, instead of vice versa.

"What, you think you can beat me, Gary Oak?" I scoffed, tapping a foot impatiently. He shook his head, his eyes piercing me.

"Seriously, let's go," He nodded to Umbreon to lead and the Pokémon obeyed. I sighed as I took my hat off and tied my hair up out of my face, putting the hat back on. That's when you knew shit was getting real, when my hair went up and Ash gasped. He knew, because it was similar to his action of turning his hat backwards. I turned to the raven-haired boy.

"You'd better be rooting for me, Ashy!" I shook a finger at him and smiled. He nodded eagerly, getting a glare from Gary.

"I'll be Kam's cheerleader and Pikachu will be Gary's!" He said, hoping that Gary wouldn't be mad at him that way. Since they were guys, Gary thought he always had to have each other's backs. And Ash would feel bad if he went against that. It didn't bother me; I had this in the bag. I was champion in two regions; Gary couldn't beat me.

"Well, don't cry when you lose, Oak," I shrugged and dug out three pokéballs. I threw out the first one I grabbed. One of the Pokémon I had gotten in Kalos. "Go, Kiara!" I shouted and out popped my female Pyroar, her mane waving in the wind. Gary's mouth dropped when he laid eyes on her. I don't like to toot my own horn, but she _was_ a sight to see. Ash gasped and pulled out his pokédex to get some information about her. I chuckled. Looked like I was ahead of the two boys. Finally.

"I guess you DID spend some time in Kalos, huh?" Gary said, and quickly spewed a command to Umbreon, "Umbreon, psychic!" Without having to yell dodge, Kiara avoided the attack.

"Hyper voice!" I ordered and she retaliated, though Umbreon barely got out of the way. Just as I was about to shout another command, Gary beat me to it, making Umbreon use skull bash. Kiara lost her footing and tripped, getting pummeled into the ground. I gasped as I ran to her. I didn't think a single attack could take one of my prized Pokémon out! Umbreon was a toughy, alright. On the sidelines, Pikachu sang cheers as Ash booed.

"What was that about me losing?" Gary jeered and I glared daggers into him. Putting my focus back on Kiara, I petted her and returned her to her ball, wasting no time in releasing my next choice of battle participant. Out popped my Meganium, Willow. She was the starter Pokémon I got from Professor Elm in Johto. Gary and Umbreon looked unfazed as he proceeded with a shadow ball attack. Despite her effort to dodge, Willow was hit due to her slow speed, though the hit did little noticeable damage. She may have been slow, but the Pokémon could take quite a number of blows until she started showing fatigue.

"She's a powerhouse, Oak. You should have been nicer to Kiara! Because you're about to be thumped! Willow, frenzy plant!" My Pokémon responded with her name and preformed the attack. The ground began to tear as roots emerged from the ground and ensnared Umbreon. The Pokémon broke free after cries of worry from his trainer were barked but he didn't seem like he could hold out much longer. It was Willow's strongest attack, after all. He jumped back to Gary, crying quietly when he got back into a fighting stance. I actually kind of felt bad for the poor Umbreon. I never resulted to using that move unless we needed to, but then again, it proved he was a ripe opponent for us to have to use that move. It thrilled me. And when I got excited, I got cocky. "C'mon Gar-Bear, you'll have to be better than that before you can even _think _of beating me!" I loved taunting him!

"Umbreon, use hidden power!" Gary barked. He looked completely mesmerized in the fight; I knew the kid hated to lose, especially to one of his best friends. Because of frenzy plant's power, Willow was forced to rest for a bit, and was hit by a semi powerful hidden power. It knocked her back and after my order, retaliated back with a strength attack. Umbreon was thrown back, just barely missing Gary. And he was definitely out of energy.

"Attagirl, Willow," I praised, petting her as Gary comforted his fallen Pokémon and he chose his second one. He tossed a pokéball and from it came a Dodrio, who just happened to have a type advantage against my Willow. And I'm sure he knew that. Especially with the next attack he uttered.

"Dodrio, peck attack!"

"Willow, magical leaf!" My Pokémon tried her best to counter but the bird heads just pecked through her leaves and straight to her. She withstood the attack, but even she knew that Gary had the advantage here. I growled under my breath as I thought of a way to get past the three-headed bird. The two cheerleaders continued their cries, both as transfixed on the fight as me and Gary were. I decided to stick it out; my Pokémon were always as determined as I was and hated having to be returned. "Try a giga drain attack!" I said, knowing it wouldn't do much good. His Dodrio dodged and pecked at her once again, taking her energy away. I could see Gary's face light up, though not in cockiness. I couldn't really explain; he just seemed really enthusiastic for the fight to end, though I knew he would prefer it to with his victory.

"Willow, you did great," I murmured to my fallen Pokémon and withdrew her. Two to one. I was beginning to feel discouraged – as was my cheerleader – but I smiled deviously when I remembered my third choice for the battle. Gary and Dodrio gave me a confused look as I tossed my final pokéball out on the field.

"Zephora, it's your turn! Let's stomp them!" My new fairy Pokémon popped out of her ball with such grace that… well she just was graceful, damnit. Suddenly, I heard Pikachu cry a cheerful cry and I looked over to see the Pokémon had been completely infatuated with mine. I giggled and shot Gary a spiteful smile. "Let's just see how you deal against her. If you think you can win, then you're crazy! Dazzling gleam!" Zephora nodded and jumped at Gary's Dodrio, shooting her same-type attack with ease. It hit Dodrio head on, stunning it. I figured that Gary hadn't spent much time in Kalos if his Pokémon were confused with the new Fairy types.

"Dodrio, snap out of it, and use tri attack!" The three-headed creature responded with an attack of fire, ice and lightning, but Zephora dodged the first two. The latter elemental attack got her and she stumbled back.

"Shake it off, sweetheart!" I yelled and she nodded.

"Go Kam! Go Zephora!" Ash cheered.

"Pi-Pikachu!" It seemed that Pikachu had switched sides because of Zephora, much to Gary's dismay. He seemed dejected from that, but nevertheless kept on attacking with Dodrio. He called out a peck attack that was dodged by Zephora and I ordered her to do her return attack. And because we had such a close bond, he knocked Dodrio right over. A flash of disbelief flooded over Gary's face for a second as he rushed to the side of his Pokémon. He was down for the count. One more to go!

"Way to go, cutie!" I exclaimed, hugging my cute pink eeveelution. Gary sighed and returned Dodrio. He was beginning to look worried, but shrugged it off as he released his final Pokémon: Blastoise. It may have been his very first Pokémon, but that wasn't going to stop me from beating him. It didn't scare me, in fact, I thought it was quite cute. "Having to resort to your very first Pokémon, huh? Doesn't mean we'll go any easier!" I taunted and he rolled his eyes.

"Blastoise, get it with a hydro pump!" He yelled, pointing for emphasis. His Pokémon prepared the attack and Zephora looked horrified. I wouldn't want to get hit by that thing's most powerful attack either! As she was about to jump out of the way, the hydro pump hit her and flung her back, soaking me in the process as well. I groaned and shook the water from my body. Gary couldn't help but laugh and I swung a fist at him.

"You won't be laughing after this, Gary! Zephora, use return!" She obeyed and much to Blastoise's alarm, knocked the startled creature over onto its shell. The poor Pokémon struggled to get off of its back but was having little success. I felt bad attacking a defenseless Pokémon so I ran over and helped his poor Pokémon up. Gary looked really surprised that I helped Blastoise, but he shook it off and ordered another attack.

"Blastoise, rapid spin!" Blastoise barely missed my pink Pokémon and she countered with a fairy wind, only making the big turtle twitch. Willow may have been a powerhouse, but so was Blastoise. I could tell she would just have to continue with return if she were going to win this for me. So that's I what instructed her to do. It was a bunch of hits and misses, on both sides, though Blastoise was using his entire moveset against Zephora. As I said the next attack for Zephora, I began to notice that a whole crowd of people had formed around us, making a sort-of people arena. We had just about equal support, though many women were on Gary's side. Typical, though.

After numerous returns, I could see that Blastoise was beginning to get tired. We were whittling his energy down. I heard cheers from my supporters after shouting yet again another return to Zephora. And Gary's supporters, well they were a little less enthusiastic. Through the voices, I could hear many of them saying "whoop her ass" or "teach that bitch who Gary Oak is", just fangirly things like that, as if I didn't know my best friend was Gary motherfucking Oak. Bitch please.

"Alright, Zephora," I started as she got up from being hit by a water gun attack. I knew she wouldn't last getting hit by another one of his attacks. "Use moonblast!" It just happened to be her strongest fairy type move and I didn't want to make the Pokémon battle any more than they had to. Gary ordered one last hydro pump and the two attacks hit at the same time, battling over which was stronger. Though after a few seconds, Zephora's moonblast powered through the hydro pump and hit Blastoise. Even with the power dwindled by the attacks' interaction, Gary's massive Pokémon stumbled back and with a weak cry, toppled to the ground. My fans shouted with happiness over my victory and Gary's were less than enthusiastic. And Gary himself look distraught. As if he just lost a best friend, but deep in thought. I didn't kill his Blastoise, only made the poor thing faint, so what was that look for? He brushed off any attempt from fangirls to make him feel better, though he smiled at them – making many of them swoon, yuck – as if to keep up his feeling façade, but being his best friend, I saw through it. What was he thinking about so intently?

"Way to go Zephora!" I praised, patting her on the head and she replied with a quiet purr. Ash ran to Gary's side, trying to get Gary to smile, finally getting him to when he started making his silly faces. I returned Zephora to her ball and swung my arm out at the crowd to get them to disperse. It's not like they even really needed to be there anyways. Surprisingly, they obeyed my hand motions, aside from a few, who had either stayed behind to gossip about it or didn't think I had the right to tell them to go. As I was making my way to Gary to tell him good job, one of his female fans stopped me.

"I don't know who you think you are, but Gary will get his revenge on you. He doesn't lose often and you bet he'll be wanting a rematch!" the girl flipped her hair behind her shoulder and placed a hand on her hip. Must have been one of the girls he had a small fling with; or she was a really committed fangirl. Either way, I didn't care. I only rolled my eyes and struck my sassy pose.

"Look_ hun_," I scoffed, "I've known the kid since we were little, and have been able to stay his friend _without_ having to try and get in his bed. So step aside." Her jaw dropped from my words and I flashed a slight smile as I walked past her. Best insult I had ever thrown at someone! I made my way to Gary and gave him a hug without even saying a word. He returned it immediately, without hesitation. I could hear his heart beating, as it slowly began to beat faster. He was so warm, and I could hear him sigh softly, contently. After a few mind-numbing seconds, he pulled back, though it seemed hesitant.

"That was a good battle, Kami," he smirked slightly, taking my hat off to rustle my hair like an older brother would. I pushed his hand away, groaning from my mess up hair, and fixed it, placing my cap back on and smiling up at him. Ash nodded swiftly.

"It really was, guys! You had me gasping and cheering and booing and-"

"Ash, I know, you were right behind me, remember?" I spat happily, nudging the boy gently. He laughed and high-fived Gary.

"So what are we gonna do for the rest of the day, guys?" Ash asked, turning his head to the department store. He must have wanted to see how much the store had changed over the years. That sounded good to me.

"I think I wanna go shopping. What about you, Gar-Bear?" I turned my gaze to the brown-haired boy, elbowing him out of the trance he seemed to be in. He blinked a couple times and nodded. This wasn't like him. He must have had something on his mind. I didn't want to press the matter in public in case it was something "private" and I grabbed the boys by their arms, linking them with mine. "Well then let's go!"

* * *

"Oh wow, I think I liked it back when we were ten," I groaned, looking at a map of the remodeled store. It was considerably larger, with several new departments. It was confusing as hell and I tossed the map to Ash. "Here, you make sense of this. I'm going with Skittles to that little lava cookie kiosk. I want some!"

"But if you can't understand it, how am I going to?" Ash moaned, tilting the map upside-down. I rolled my eyes and took the map back. We were all hopeless; a group of teenagers who couldn't understand a map. But in our defense, the piece of shit had way too much stuff on it, so it was hard to read… But the smell of cookies took my focus off of the map and I sniffed my gaze to a cookie booth.

"Well, let's just go get some cookies and look around," I said, holding a happy little Skittles in my arms. While walking over to the cookie booth, I looked at Gary. He seemed distant now, which wasn't like him. I would have thought he would be ogling the cute girls that walked past him and giggled. I shook my head and pulled out some money, Skittles and I were going to eat a shitton of cookies!

"Hi there!" the vendor welcomed us and waved a hand for us to come closer. "We sell the specialty cookies from Hoenn: Lava Cookies!" I inhaled the scent of freshly baked cookies and reached out to take a couple, but as I was, another hand took the ones I was going to get. I looked at my supposed cookie thief to see a quite handsome guy beaming at me. He had deep brown eyes with matching brunette hair. On his head was a black and grey checkered fedora and he wore a red and black unzipped jacket with a plain white tee and black jeans. He was just gorgeous, and I wasn't one to get all mushy-gushy over a fucking guy.

"Three cookies for this lovely lady, please," he told the vender and handed him his own money. I looked at him in awe; I had my own money! I didn't need some guy to pay for me. Though I did appreciate the compliment. The guy handed me the cookies he had paid for and smiled at me again. I couldn't help but flush slightly from the attention I was getting. This didn't happen every day! "I saw your battle outside. You were pretty awesome out there! You had to have been to beat Gary Oak!" Had no one really heard of me outside of Pallet? Jeez. Before I could thank the guy for the cookies and compliments, Gary stepped between us.

"Yeah well it's an _honor_ you know of me dude, but you can go now." He spat sarcastically. He seemed tense, keeping his eyes on the stranger. But the guy laughed, not at all intimidated by my tall friend.

"I think he's taking the loss bad," he chuckled, sliding past Gary to be in front of me again. "I'm Riley. And you're Kamryn, right?" I nodded, not knowing what to say. I mean, what could I say? Some random attractive guy just bought me cookies and gave me compliments; at least I wasn't tripping over myself – give me a break! I looked at Gary. He was really beginning to appear frustrated with this guy. He didn't do anything but buy me cookies and introduce himself. Why was he being like that? I noticed Gary's fists clench and I swore Riley did too. "Well, I'd better go." He bought cookies for himself and turned to leave, "Hopefully I'll see you around again, cutie!" He flashed me a wink and a wave as he jogged off to the escalators to the floor above. I muttered out a soft "thank you" and blinked a couple times, making sure I was following what just happened correctly and I wasn't off in some cookie-caused daydream.

"Well he was really friendly, huh Kami?" Ash mused, quieting down when Gary flashed him daggers. "What's up your butt, Gary?"

"Yeah, Gary," I added, putting a head on my hip, "Why were you being such a dick? He wasn't doing anything bad, though it _was_ fuckin' weird to have a guy buy me cookies…" My voice trailed off as I continued to think of the situation that just happened. I kept my eye on Gary, and his face just seemed to light up red in anger. He clinched his fists and opened his mouth to speak, but closed it, just shaking his head and putting his hands in his pockets.

"I'm gonna go look around," He forced out quietly, the anger noticeably gone from his visage. And before Ash or I could respond, he walked off. Gary was acting so weird lately and I was going to find out why. But I figured I would let him simper down a bit before I pried. He needed to talk to his best friend and Ash sure as hell wasn't going to take him seriously. But first…

"Myahhh!" Skittles took a bite of one of the cookies in my hand, filling her mouth so much her cheeks puffed out, and I couldn't help but squeal in happiness. I had the cutest Pokémon, and THAT was a fact!

"You are just too adorable! Ahhhhhhhh!" I squished her affectionately and took a bite of one of the other cookies, offering the last one to Ash and Pikachu, with Ash being the one to take it. He broke it in half and gave one part to Pikachu.

"Why do you think Gary was being like that, Kam?" Ash asked, munching on his half of the cookie and leading us to the PokéGift store. "Is he just sore from losing, like the guy said?" I shrugged in reply. It was a possibility; Gary didn't like to lose. But I just had a feeling it was more than that; why else would he just so… "rawr" to a random guy? He liked when people knew who he was. I finished up my cookie and allowed Skittles to finish hers before I addressed Ash.

"I think I'm gonna go to the Game Corner, okay? You know how I am about those slots!" I gave my friend a wink and he laughed. Oh, he knew, he knew very well. Grandpa Oak would take us there when we were kids, and that's when my obsession began. I'd ask almost every day if we could go back, though I would always get told no and go pout in the corner. I made it back during my first journey and… well, I was beyond broke once I was forced to leave.

"Okie doke! Me and Pikachu will probably stay here for a little bit, then go find Gary," He replied, giving me a hug before trotting off. That was good; maybe some guy time would help little Gar-Bear. I rushed out of the department store before I got wrapped into window shopping – which I had a really bad habit of, kind of how I got my new outfit. Luckily for me, the Game Corner was in the same place it used to be, minus the prize center next door. I walked through the door like I was hot shit and found the nearest slot machine. The damn thing required coins, duh, and I pulled out my coin case – thankfully it still had coins in it! I set Skittles on my lap and put in three coins, waiting for just the right time to press the buttons. As I was about to hit the first one, a hand stopped me and, once again, I looked up to see Riley.

"Well hi there," he purred, pressing the buttons for me and – only with beginner's luck! – got straight 7's. My mouth dropped and I stupidly looked from him to the machine's screen and back to him. He laughed, collected the coins he'd won and placed him in my coin case. "Just think of it as a gift for a cute girl," I blushed and looked away shyly. I never had a guy be nice to me like that, other than Ash and Gary, but then they'd pick on me, the way my best friends did.

"W-well thank you, but…" I pushed out, but I couldn't accept this. I tried to hand them back to him, but Riley shut the case and smiled, waving an index finger at me.

"Nope! I won these for you!" he tutted. Why was this guy being so nice to me? He'd never even met me! My curiosity killing me, I asked him that question. "Because you're the champion in Hoenn and Unova! That's a HUGE thing! I'm a big fan and when I heard you were back in Kanto, I just knew you'd have to come back to Celadon! I had to meet you!" Well he was right about that. It was cool to hear that I had fans, especially attractive ones, and my face turned red with a shy smile.

"Oh, well, it's nothing big…" I waved a hand, trying to play it cool.

"It is though! Say, it may be a bit… blunt, but would you mind grabbing a bite to eat with me and heading back to where you're staying?" I pulled a derp face. Why in the hell would he want to go to the hotel? Sensing my thoughts, he added, "You see, I'm actually from Viridian, and I don't actually have a place I'm staying," He looked down in embarrassment. Well, I'd be getting a free meal out of it. It couldn't hurt, right? Plus, he didn't seem like one of Gary's fangirls who were overly happy to see him. And if he was, he contained himself very well. Skittles seemed to be down for it, by the way she was running in circles on my lap, though she may have just been chasing her tail.

"That sounds good," I smiled and stood up. Riley's face lit up and lead the way out of the Game Corner – it saddened me to leave so soon since I didn't play much, but hey, free fucking food! – And took me to a little fast food place inside the Department Store. His treat, so I ordered three cheeseburgers, giving a quarter of one to Skittles. He seemed really pleased to be able to do all of these things for me in one day; I could see him smiling at me from the corner of my eye as I ate.

"You're really adorable when you eat," he purred, taking enjoyment in my flustered reaction.

"O-oh, um thanks…" I said, and he stopped our walking – we were eating and walking out of the store – and I watched him pull out an iPod. He pulled out headphones and put one in his ear, handing me the other. Deciding to humor him, I took it and put it in. We sat down at a nearby bench to listen.

"Have you ever heard of "Oh Darling" by Plug In Stereo?" He asked, turning to the song, and of course I had! The song was the cutest little song in the history of cute songs! At least in my opinion. He smiled at my response and nodded, starting to sing the first part of the song. I couldn't help but join in.

* * *

[Gary's POV – starts a little earlier when he walked off]

I just didn't know what the hell to do. I messed up in being all jealous about that Riley guy. I couldn't tell her my feelings now. What if she just thought of it as a joke? I mean, I saw the way she looked at that guy; she was mesmerized. Sighing dejectedly, I sat down at a bench in the department store and kicked myself. What was I doing feeling sorry for myself?! Gary motherfucking Oak never gave up! If I wanted a girl, I was going to get her! I decided I was going to tell her regardless once we got back to the hotel. She needed to know, and maybe she'd regret me, but I'd _make _her fall for me, until she couldn't stand me. It surprised me how strong my feelings actually were and how fast I actually took to realize them. I couldn't lie; I knew I was a dense little shit at times, so this was a surprise.

"Yo Gary!" my thought were interrupted by none other than my best friend, the guy one of course, "You doing okay?" Ash was always such a softy, but I thought it was a good thing. One of us guys needed to be sensitive and it sure as hell couldn't be Gary Oak. I nodded and smiled at him, more determined than ever.

"I'm fucking great, Ashy-Boy!" I exclaimed, jumping up to chest bump my bro. He returned it and put an arm around my shoulder, that stupid smile plastered on his face.

"Just making sure. Me and Kam were worried about you; you seemed really mad at that Riley guy," As Ash brought up that name, I felt my hair stand on end. He was definitely competition and I wasn't going to lose to him.

"Man, fuck that dude," I laughed, playing it off like it didn't bother me. Suddenly, as I opened my mouth to continue, I heard singing:

"_You seem quite nice for a girl with good looks  
And I'm the kinda fellow that'll make you feel better when your life gets shook  
So give it a chance according to your plans  
I bet I'm not number one on your list to kiss, but please understand" _

I wasn't too into the guy's mushy singing, and was just about to keep walking, until I heard a girl start singing.

"_You seem quite shy, but you're oh so cute  
And I'm the kind of girl that would love to be yours if you asked me to  
So just take a chance, try to hold my hand  
I swear I'd never let go  
Just let me know if you'd be my man"_

I guess the voice stopped Ash as well because we just stood in the middle of walking traffic to hear the singing. Boy was it amazing! Like the sweetest Jigglypuff, minus the putting you asleep part. Parts of me wished that Kamryn would say words like that to me, and we continued listening, awestruck.

"_[Boy]: I really want to come out and tell you  
Oh darling, I love you so"_

_"[Girl]: If you'd ask me for my heart, there's no way that I'll say no"_

_"[B]: Oh darling, just take a chance please"_

_"[G]: So we can stay together till hell starts to freeze"_

_"[B]: You seem quite right for a boy like me"_

_"[G]: And I wanna know would you treat me well_  
_Would you treat me like a queen"_

_"[B]: Cause I'd like to show you and make you see"_

"_[Both]: That although we're different types  
We were meant to be"_

_"[B]: I really want to come out and tell you_  
_Oh darling, I love you so"_

_"[G]:If you'd ask me for my heart, there's no way that I'll say no"_

_"[B]: Oh darling, just take a chance please"_

_"[G]: So we can stay together till hell starts to freeze"_

_"[B]: So I gotta ask you,_  
_I can't be afraid_  
_I gotta take a chance at love_  
_So what do you say_  
_Oh darling, I love you so"_

_"[G]: If you'd ask me for my heart, there's no way that I'll say no"_

"_[B]: Oh darling, just take a chance please"_

_"[G]: So we can stay together till hell starts to freeze"_

The singing was absolutely amazing and it about had Ash to tears. It sounded too cutesy for me, but deep down, it was how I wanted me and Kam to be. I nudged the raven-haired boy to knock him out of his trance and he swore he wasn't about to cry.

"Yeah, right, you loser," I sassed, punching him in the arm and blocking him when he tried the same on me. We laughed. We had such a good relationship; nothing could tear us apart. "C'mon, let's go find the little shit we call Kamryn,"

"Okie dokie!" And I knew exactly where she would be: the Game Corner. She did enjoy the slot machines.

* * *

"Not here?" Ash huffed and I shrugged my shoulders. We had looked everywhere and asked everyone about Kam when we got to the Game Corner, but she was nowhere to be found. That was really strange. "Maybe she's back at the hotel?" Ash's guess was as good as mine, but I was beginning to worry. If she wasn't at the one place she was most excited to go to, wasn't that a reason to worry?

"We can go try. The city isn't really _that_ big so if she's not there, we'll find her eventually," I believed my words, but still I was worried. It was starting to get dark and Kam was scared of being out by herself – she had a fear of being kidnapped, but who would kidnap an eighteen-year-old?

"You're really worried, Gary, aren't you?" Ash asked as we walked out of the Game Corner. I felt my face flush and tried my best to hide it. Pikachu patted my back as if to comfort me and I took in a deep breath.

"Of course I'm worried. Our best friend is alone. This may be a familiar city but we're her best friends – we need to protect her," I was astonished to hear Ash laugh at that and he flashed me a mature looking smile.

"She's a big girl, Gary, but I know. She feels the same way. But we're not kids anymore. There won't be any wild Tauros to come and attack her like back then," Since when did he think he had the right to talk to me like his inferior? Fucking dick! Still, he was right and all I could do was shrug. It was so scary back then, getting attacked by wild Tauros. Ash had irritated them by throwing pebbles at them and they started to chase little Kamryn, even though she didn't do anything. Me and Ash grabbed her hands and ran with her back to Pallet Town and climbing a tree. They weren't such smart Pokémon and me and Ash promised we'd always be there to protect her after that.

We made it to the hotel and walked in the lobby, asking the person behind the counter if he'd seen Kam.

"Oh yes, she actually went up to your room a while ago," the guy smiled, nodding his head when we offered him a "thanks".

"See?" Ash beamed, with an equally happy Pikachu, "I told you she'd be alright!" I rolled my eyes at the little shit. _Think you're hot shit now, huh? _Smiling and shaking my head, I was having a hard time holding in my excitement to see Kam. I couldn't wait to tell her; I was beginning to shake with anticipation. We made it to the door and Ash opened the door… well _tried_ to. The knob was stuck, like it was locked. That was strange. She knew we weren't in there, so why would she lock it if she had the only key? I knocked on the door, irritated that she would do that. I didn't get a response, but I heard a muffled noise on the other side of the door.

"You hear that?" I asked Ash and he nodded. We knocked harder the second time, and still no response. "Maybe she's in the shower," I concluded and we were just about to go back down to the front desk to get a spare key when I heard a yell. Not a happy yell either. It was Kamryn, and she sounded terrified.

"Kam?!" Ash yelled, pounding on the door. She seemed to hear it and bawled back.

"A-Ash! Please he-" her voice got muffled again and I swore I heard another voice. I pushed Ash aside and began to jump at the door, trying to bust it open.

"Fuck! It's not opening!" I growled, "Let's kick it at the same time!" Ash nodded. I counted down from three to one and we tried kicking the door down. The first try was to no avail, but the second caused the door to topple to the ground and the sight we saw was absolutely horrifying…


	4. The Explanation

_A/N: I'm gonna warn you now, it gets a bit rated M at the beginning of this, so just a head's up in advance. /.\ Oh, and I've changed the name of the story to What She Deserves. You'll probably read why later in this. Enjoy!_

* * *

I thought he was a good guy; just some really nice random guy. He was giving me compliments and buying me things, for no reason other than he could. Because he was a _fan _of me.

We made it back to the hotel room and had been sitting and talking for hours. He lead an interesting life, telling me a childhood tragedy made him scared of Pokémon, even my cute little harmless Skittles.

He used to live in the Johto region, near Mt. Silver with his mother. When he was ten, the age where you get your Pokémon license, his mother just left him in the mountain by himself, and he said the Pokémon there wanted nothing to do with him. Many tried to scare him away and when he attempted to catch a Sneasel – he said kids in his town had to capture their own starter Pokémon – it attacked him almost to death. He was a year older than me and had never attempted to start a Pokémon journey after it. I guessed some people just weren't meant to do it – to make him feel more relaxed, I put Skittles in her pokéball, which seemed to help. Once he had made it out, he said he found their local doctor and left Johto for Kanto, hearing stories of me, and even Gary and Ash. He traveled to Sinnoh to learn of Pokémon history until he heard I was coming back to Kanto, so he took a plane as fast as he could. But even though he was really nice and oh so attractive, I just didn't feel that comfortable being alone with him. I just wasn't a people person, except, I guess, with Gary and Ash.

"Listen," I interrupted one of his stories of Sinnoh as politely as I could, "This is really fun and all, but would you mind leaving? It's just, we've only just met and I'm not real comfy with – " He stopped my words with a sudden kiss on my lips, making me freeze up in shock. And it wasn't a romantic one like you see in the movies. It was forceful and full of lust; not exactly how I'd wanted my first kiss! I pulled away from him, and slid over to my bed in caution. Who did he think he was just doing that?! What the hell?!

"I've been wanting to do that all day," Riley purred, slowly getting up to follow me, "There's other things I've been wanting to do as well," I pushed myself against the wall trying to back away from him.

"What the fuck is your problem, dude?! You can't just kiss girls like that!" I yelled, swatting my hands at him to keep him away. He shrugged, stopping at the foot of my bed.

"And why can't I? I knew you were naïve enough to believe my charade, my stupid story! No girl can resist feeling sorry for a loser like that! Since I first laid eyes on you, I knew what I wanted," he paused dramatically, "And I'm sure you do, too," he simpered madly and began crawling towards me. _Charade? What the fuck? _This guy was maximum creeper!

"W-what? No! Please leave!" I shouted, holding a foot up in defense and pointing a shaky finger to the door. I should have been more demanding, but that's hard when you're majorly creeped out and terrified. He didn't obey my plea; only crawled closer to me, and I launched my foot at him, but he was a lot faster than me. He grabbed my foot and slammed it down, then lunged; within seconds, he was on top of me. He stared down at me, a look of pure satisfaction in his eyes. He _liked_ this. His hands had my arms pinned down and his knees on my legs kept me from squirming. He may have been attractive but he was heavier than he looked and he was crushing my legs and arms.

"Get off me," I squeaked out, at a loss of breath from his sudden change in demeanor, and the amount of unexpected weight flung on top of me. He shook his head with a mad grin, "If you're trying to be funny, it's not working! You're being fucking creepy! Now get off!" I used my collected strength to try and shove him off but it was no good. He was much too strong for me to move.

"Oh, Kami, quit your squirming," he tutted, and began to pull at my shorts. _Oh FUCK no! _I kicked my legs, trying to get away from this freak, but he held me down with his own legs as he took off my shorts. I couldn't control myself; I started bawling, flailing everywhere like a pitiful Magikarp using splash on land. He was just the sweetest guy a few minutes ago and now he was a horny teenager? He returned to his original position on top of me after succeeding with my shorts and smiled evilly. "You really have no idea how attractive you are," he mused, trying to run the back of his hand down my cheek to catch my tears. To his surprise, I latched out to bite him. There was no way in hell I was going to willingly let him touch me after all of this! He pulled his hand away in time and his grin only got wider.

"Don't fucking touch me," I spat out through sobs and tears. Riley only laughed. He _laughed. _He was enjoying every second of this; of me being defenseless against him. His grip on my arms became stronger, pushing them against the bed and I yelled in pain.

"Uh-uh, none of that!" he growled and flipped me over on my stomach, forcing my face into a pillow to try and stop my screams. This only made me cry louder. I mean, what the hell did he expect me to do, just sit there and let him do what he wanted? What did I do to him to deserve this?! I continued my fight as he attempted to take off the rest of my clothes; I was _NOT _going to let this pervert get he wanted, even if it killed me. Through my screaming, I heard a knock on the door and tried to call out, but Riley flipped me back over and placed a hand on my mouth. He shook his head dominantly and I bit his hand, making him wince and I took the opportunity to slide out from under him and make a run for the door. I thought I could make it, until the bastard scared the piss out of me by grabbing me by my waist. He pulled me in close, and I could feel him move his face around in my hair, as if he was smelling it. I froze; I had no idea what to do. My mouth dropped open and a scream rushed out, hoping it make the people on the other side of the door come back for me. _Don't leave me here with him, please! Come back!_

"Kam?!" I heard Ash's worried voice on the other side of the door and fear rushed out of me for a second.

"A-Ash! Please he-" Riley put a hand over my mouth, telling me to keep it shut. Tears continued to stream down my face as Riley pushed me back down on the bed, not even paying attention to the noise outside the room; Ash was trying to bust through the door. I heard Gary's voice outside and even with the pervert on top of me, it gave me a sense of relief. Riley was still trying to get the rest of my clothes off and I was snapped back to reality, continuing to scream and kick the guy off of me. But a loud smash over by the door stopped us both and where the door once stood was Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak, their visages stuck in a terrified position.

* * *

"What the HELL do you think you're doing to her?!" I screamed, charging for the guy on top of Kamryn. I dove at him and tackled him off of her, pinning him to the ground with shaking fists. "Answer me, you piece of shit!" The guy called Riley was awestruck; he only gaped up at me, as if in shock. I heard a cry and turned to Kam, who was sobbing into Ash's shoulder. Seeing her in tears like that only pissed me off more; I never wanted to see her cry and she was absolutely broken down, because of _him_. I threw a punch at his face, causing him to wince. "Are you going to talk or not?!" He spat out some saliva and grinned up at me.

"Are you jealous I got farther with her than you could, _Oak_?" He spat my name in spite, a wicked grin on his face. I rebutted with another blow to his face, hearing a cracking noise. How fucking _dare_ he?! Riley groaned; I must have cracked his nose. Rage flowed through my veins; I was just way too pissed to swing, so I pulled him to his feet and pinned him to the wall. I leaned in close to his ear.

"If you EVER come within 100 feet of her again, I swear, I will kill you." Before he could reply to me, I punched his face again, then landed a blow in his stomach. He groaned again, dropping to the ground. He coughed again, only this time with blood, and I watched it splatter on the floor. The motherfucker deserved this. As I lifted an eager leg to kick him in the stomach, a hand on my shoulder stopped me. Ash. He pushed me to the side, nodded to Kam and looked down at Riley. I turned my complete focus to Kamryn.

"Kami, are you okay? Did he hurt you? Why are your pants off? What-" She stopped my concerned sputters with a hug before she burst out in another fit of tears. I held her in my arms while she cried, rubbing her back and laying my head on her shoulder. I couldn't imagine what she had been through for her to have been crying as bad as she was, though maybe I could... I turned back to Ash, who had a barely conscious Riley by the collar and was dragging him out the door – he must have fucked him up! I did have to admit; Ash was quite the gentleman. He'd matured a lot since we started out as ten-year-olds, though he still remained as naïve as he used to be. But he had realized that women were different from men; that they needed to be treated different, in a _nicer _way, for lack of a better word. He was sure as hell a better gentleman than me…

"Kami?" Ash murmured her name as he slammed the door on the pervert, locked the door and ran over to us. She didn't reply; only continued to sob into my shoulder. He flashed me a look, one that could have torn anyone's heart out. He felt so bad for leaving her alone, I knew he did. I returned a gaze that told him it wasn't his fault. He sat down with us, hugging her other side close, and we sat like that, in an awkward hugging ball, just letting Kamryn let out all the tears she needed to.

"Thank you," she finally forced out after an hour or so of sobbing. I smiled softly, lifting her head up with my hand by her chin and wiped her tears. She smiled as best she could back at me and I saw Ash squeeze her in an embracing hug, making her smile even bigger.

"Anything for our Kami!" Ash exclaimed, releasing her, patting her head and heading to the bathroom where he had supposed put his Pokémon partner so he wouldn't have to see the human violence. Kami looked up at me, her eyes bloodshot and red, but man, she was still so beautiful. Noticing again her shorts were off, I took off my shirt and offered it to her; I knew how defensive she got about people – especially me and Ash – seeing her without actual clothes on. And as cute as they were, I'm sure she was feeling terribly awkward sitting there in pink, lacey polka-dot underwear.

"T-thanks," she whispered, and I noticed her face flushed from my lack of shirt. I don't like tooting my own horn – what the hell am I saying, of course I do! – But I did have a nice body. Though I didn't really expect her to see it under these circumstances; I thought it would be swimming or something! I grinned wickedly, though I didn't make a joke this time. She didn't need any more pervertedness at the moment, not after…

"Kam, why don't you get some sleep, okay?" Ash's voice sounded from the bathroom before he came out with Pikachu, all dressed in his pajamas. That was fucking fast! She nodded weakly and – after taking off her other clothes under my shirt – proceeded to cover up in her bed. It made me happy that she wanted to sleep in my shirt, though it was probably just a security thing, ya know, since she had a shitty day. Me and Ash tucked her in, just like our moms used to do to us, and, as if he could read her mind, Ash took out Skittles' pokéball and she snuggled up next to her trainer, making Kami smile the biggest I'd seen her all night.

"Goodnight, guys," she yawned, and within seconds, she was asleep. I sighed happily at the sight, though I did have to wonder; how was it possible to fall asleep that fast?! Ash grinned at our best friend as he made his way to his perch on the couch and I followed suite to my sleeping area on the floor.

"Gary, we need to call Officer Jenny so that guy doesn't come back for her," Ash said, breaking the silence we sat in. I nodded, pointing to the phone. He seemed the person to do so; he knew her better than I did. He picked it up and called her, and I laid in my "bed", only staring at the ceiling. I felt like I had failed her; we promised to protect her, and even though we made it before anything bad happened, things still happened. It's not something she can just shake off, no matter how strong she is. I just wanted to keep her safe.

"Jenny said she would come over to see if see if he is still outside and if not, they'll start their search." Ash reported once off the phone. I nodded to him, not turning my gaze from the ceiling. He sighed contently as he snuggled in on the couch with Pikachu. He turned off the lights and I thought he had fallen asleep, since we sat in silence for well over ten minutes before I heard him speak again.

"Gary, if you're going to do something, don't do it like he did, okay?" his words were not something I was expecting and I blinked in the darkness, as if he could see it.

"What do you mean?" I asked. With Ash, anything he said could mean one thing to him and something completely different to another person. He sighed, as if it was blatantly obvious.

"Gary, I know you like Kami. She deserves a good guy. But not the player Gary, our best friend Gary." I closed my eyes at his words, trying not to burst out with "How did you know?!" or "Is it really that obvious?!" so I wouldn't wake up Kamryn. But I guess it showed that Ash knew plenty more than what he put off to. For some reason, I felt as though, after the events of the day, he had grown up a little. He sounded older and wiser, but maybe that was just recoil from kicking Riley's ass. Whatever it was, somewhere, I felt satisfied that he was able to tell me that, and that I could hear it from my best friend, and not in a lecture from Gramps or my sister.

"I know, Ashy-Boy, I wanna be the one she deserves," was all I could force out through my thoughts and he made a satisfied noise in return. And with no reply and reassuring, quiet snores, I was left awake in the darkness to think about my plan of action to protect Kam, or at least, help her forget her ordeal earlier, and soon, from exhaustion, succumbed to the sleep that had been tugging at me.

* * *

I didn't speak much the next day. Gary and Ash seemed to understand. I just wanted to leave Celadon, and that's what we did. I felt bad making the boys leave – I knew they liked the mini vacation in Celadon – but they insisted they come with me, not in the least bit upset with my decision. Gary hung close to me the whole time back home, which, though I honestly found comforting, was not like him at all. He'd been acting so weird since we'd seen each other again, but I was too preoccupied in my thoughts of the day before. I just couldn't get it out of my head, no matter how much I tried.

We took Gary's Fearow back to Pallet and I stayed in my room the rest of the day, with my mother coming up every now and again with food or the occasional "I love you, sweetie, I'm right downstairs." I assumed one of the boys had told her what had happened, and if they did, she was surprisingly calm about it, considering the way she used to react when I would get hurt when playing with them when we were little…

* * *

**"Gary, Ash, wait up!" I huffed, already tired from the short run. The two boys laughed at me, sticking immature tongues out in taunting.**

**"Slowpoke!" Ash jeered, mocking the slow Pokémon's walk, making Gary topple over in laughter. I turned red in the face, much similar to an angry Jigglypuff – to whom they commonly referred me to when I lost my temper – and stomped after them, only to trip over a wild Geodude in the ground. I skidded my knee on the hard rocks and dirt, tearing the skin and blood trickled down. I sat up, cradling my hurt knee and holding back the waterworks; I had to be tough if I wanted to hang with the boys! That meant no tears! Gary and Ash stopped in their tracks and doubled back to me, gasping loudly at my hurt knee.**

**"Aww, Kami! Are you okay?!" Gary asked, sitting down with me, examining my knee. I shook my head; it really hurt! "Ashy, go get Gramps!" Ash nodded at Gary's demand and rushed to go get help. When Ash left, I let the tears burst and cried the way all little kids cry: continuously with the dramatic gasp for breath only to continue the sobbing. Gary sat with me – and had even ripped off part of his shirt to help stop the bleeding – for the five minutes it took to find Grandpa Oak, who was accompanied by my mother.**

**"Oh Kamryn!" She barked, charging over to her only daughter and flooding me with kisses. "Are you alright?! Ash said you were hurt!" I sniffled and brushed the tears off my face with uncoordinated child hands, pointing to my knee. "Oh my goodness, you're bleeding!" she shrieked, scooping me up and scowling at the boys at the Professor's side. "You should be gentler with her! She's not as tough as you boys are! She's fragile!" The two tried to defend themselves but my mother would have none of it, turning her back on them and heading for the house…**

* * *

I had always hoped they never took her outbursts to heart; she was always overly concerned.

"Hey Kami, can I come in?" a knock and a familiar voice sounded from outside my door around seven in the evening and I opened the door to an anxious-looking Gary Oak. He seemed to be in his pajamas – he possessed no shirt and rolled up sweatpants covered his lower half – and his hair was messy than usual. I couldn't help but laugh at him.

"You can come in if you put a damn shirt on, Oak!" I sneered in good nature, the first time I had poked fun at him all day. That seemed to perk up his mood as his visage soon adorned his signature smirk.

"You took my shirt, remember? Slept with it, as a matter of fact. Did you think you could keep it forever?" I looked at the floorboards in embarrassment. I _had _forgotten to give his shirt back when he and Ash dropped me off at the house. I walked to my bed where I had left it – of course I had changed out of _just_ his shirt, but had packed it with my things and was planning to give it to him the following day – and handed it to him without looking at him. He chuckled and took it, grabbing my hand with his and pulling me in for a hug. I hugged him back; it's where I felt safe. It made me forget what had happened the day before, being in his arms. After a couple seconds, I pulled back from him and stuck my tongue out.

"If that's all you wanted, then you can leave now," Those are the words that came out, but I desperately wanted him to stay. I wanted to talk to my best friend about what his problems had been lately, but I just couldn't get myself to say it. He shrugged, playfully tugging at my half up/half down hair.

"I guess it was," he sighed, though I sensed hesitation in his voice. He smiled at me and, after releasing my hair, turned for the stairs. As he descended, I felt myself run after him and grab his arm. He turned to me, a look of longing shot at me. I choked. I don't know what forced me to chase him, but I pulled at his arm, signaling I wanted him to stay. He beamed gently, and followed me into my room again, though this time, he actually came in and sat on my bed with me.

"G-Gary," I choked his name out, wanting to ask, though I didn't think I had the courage now. I was never good at giving advice or trying to comfort or confront people about things. I didn't feel like it was my place to pry, but, with my best friend, I felt I had to; the words just wouldn't come out.

"Yes?" I knew he was trying hard to conceal interest in what I was trying to say but he was never good at that. I scooped up a sleeping Skittles from my pillow and stroked her, taking a deep breath before finally shoving my wanted words out.

"Why have you been acting so strangely lately? Like, on Kronos, and the random gazes into nothing, and the whole breaking down thing at the lab? Are you going through a hard time lately?" he blinked at me, obviously not the question he was expecting, but he didn't reply. He shuffled his feet and ran an awkward hand through his chaotic hair. In an effort to ease his tension, and because I have an excellent sense of humor, I added, "Have you started your… _period_?" As soon as he heard that word, the color ran from his face and he grew stiff. His reaction was priceless, and I toppled over in laughter, Skittles copying. He shook his head in embarrassment.

"Y-you know guys don't have those!" he hissed, turning red from my laughter. I sat up and placed a hand on his lap.

"I know, I know," I coaxed, smiling innocently at him. It felt so good to be able to joke around with my best friend instead of being gloomy with depressing thoughts. It felt like it never even happened, that we had just gotten home from our trip and had a wonderful time. But I still had to know what was troubling him. "Still though, what's up with how you've been acting?" A frown played on his lips as he concentrated on an answer to respond with. After a minute or two, he sighed and laid out on my bed, as if he owned the damn place.

"Honestly Kami, I don't know how to explain it," he began, turning his head to look at me then folded his hands under his skull for a makeshift pillow. "You're my best chick friend, you always have been. I've never found anyone else like you and I'm so glad for that. Because you know me best. You laugh at my jokes and throw ones back. No one else does that. And you hug me, tighter and warmer than anyone else, even Daisy. It's just… so weird. When I got to see you again, my heart swelled up. It was like I'd seen you for the first time, yet we shared all these memories. You've grown so much. I guess that's the explanation to the waterworks," he didn't seem to believe himself when he said that, but I didn't bring it up and let him continue, "On Kronos… well I feel like I can be… um, closer to you than other girls…" He blushed as he said that, his words trailing off, but it didn't take long for him to pick back up again, "I realized I don't just think of you as my friend, Kami, you're more than that to me…"

He took a deep breath as he prepared to tell me what had be plaguing his mind ever since we got reunited:

"I love you, Kam… I guess that explains it."

* * *

_A/N: Well, the beginning could have had a COMPLETELY different turn, but that's where my mind went and it developed... /.\ Sorry guys, but yeah! Big reveal! I do like the ending of this chapter - which is surprising, considering I usually don't - and I hope you guys do, too! Thank you for reading chapter 4! Reviews are always welcome! _


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